The Staff Appreciation Luncheon was a great success last Wednesday. We had a great variety of salads, sandwiches and other yummy lunch stuff as well as decadent desserts and lovely flowers. Staff were able to enjoy a relaxing break thanks to the many parents who came in to cover recess duty. HUGE thanks to parents that sent in food and/or helped with recess duty - the staff appreciates your culinary skills and your kid herding prowess. The following parents helped out with Staff Appreciation this month:
Beth Fialko
Casey, Emily Pham, Ashat Baunsana, Nicole Huff, Sarah Smith, Leah Davis, Kate Belluche, mother of Samir, Laurie Ploesser, Christine Liethied, Heather Simmons, Jen Debedout, Brenda Jackson, Leah Davis,
Miranda Purvis, Shanta Eastman, Tammy Kuypers, Shelley Waterman, Janet Greene
Heather
Simmons, Jessica Hook, Happy Vail, Holly Hausner, Lisa Tulkop,
Mary Mitchell, Mary Anne Kohn, Deb Maher, Sarah DeShaw, Heather
Vaughan, Sandrine
Kibuey, Hatidza Dzinic, Tracy Truzansky, Janet Coutrayer, Jane Hondal, Kate Wheeler, Marty Welsh, Amy and Matt Perry - and if there is anyone I overlooked, THANK YOU too - sorry if I inadvertently overlooked you!Springfest at Flynn - thanks yous and a reporting TBA....
Parent Help needed for:The Flynn Olympics to be held on Tuesday, June 11th (rain date Wednesday, June 12th). Modeled on the Olympic Games, each class will compete in several contests as a team to reach goals and win medals for their class. We will have Opening Ceremonies, the events themselves (K-2, and 3-5), and a Closing Ceremony at the end of the day. Each class will be awarded the medals they have earned.
To help make sure that this is a safe and positive experience, we need volunteers. (Volunteers run a variety of stations - each station is clearly explained by Lida and there are teachers helping out their class while they are at your station. There are events like the rope climb, skipping rope, hoola hooping, softball throw and hurdles) There are two time slots on June 11th; 8-11am - set up and run the event for 3-5th graders, and 12:15-2 pm for the K-2 events. Please come 15 minutes prior your start time. There will be a quick briefing for Volunteers in the Flynn Learning Center on Monday June 10th at 3 pm. This briefing will be particularly important in order to get your assignment. We very much appreciate any help you can give. Please return the form below or email to ldvorak@bsdvt.org before noon on Friday 6/7. Thank you. Sincerely, Lida Dvorak
PTO meeting minutes from May are included at the end of this post.
Parents are wondering... Is Flynn becoming a STEM school? Flynn school has been exploring the possibility of becoming a STEM magnet school, including professional development, presentation at a PTO meeting, chat at the Principal's coffee as well as a recent presentation to the Curriculum committee for the Burlington School Board (as referenced in the Front Porch Forum last week by Greg Jenkins) Mr. Clarke also plans to discuss this topic as part of his Principal's Corner time at the June PTO meeting. The Power Point presentation given to the school board can be viewed below.
http://www.boarddocs.com/vt/bsdvt/Board.nsf/files/97WL4V4D616C/$file/Exploring%20STEM%20at%20Flynn%20PPT%20for%20curriculum%20comittee%20May%2020.pdf
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! Flynn School students raised $6,000 towards our new playground! Thank you to all who set out and sold Dan's Chocolates- you will be rewarded!
CHOCOLATE PICK-UP Parents may pick up chocolates in the STAGE GYM
Thursday May 30 from 2:30pm - 5:30pm
Friday May 31 from 7:50am - 8:30am
(For smaller orders that can be easily carried, we will try to send home with students) **Watch out for an Alert Now message on Wednesday 5/29 with more information**
REWARD PICK-UP Please note that an adult MUST collect your rewards- They will be available in the office on Thursday May 30th and Friday May 31st. Chocolate rewards will be included in chocolate pick-up
Thank you for making this such a success! The Flynn School PTO
Burlington School District English Language Learner Survey Results May 23, 2013
In terms of beliefs, both teachers and students highly agree that ELLs can be successful at school, with students saying that their parents place a high priority on education in general and college attendance in particular.
SAVE THE DATE
June 6 - Last PTO meeting of the year - 6:30-8pm - Officer Elections! Free Pizza and childcare
June 11 - Flynn Olympics
June 11 - 5th Grade Bridging Ceremony
June 13 - Last Day of School (early dismissal) 11:30 - Parade of students out back and a visit from Mr. Ding-a-Ling
June 6 - Last PTO meeting of the year - 6:30-8pm - Officer Elections! Free Pizza and childcare
June 11 - Flynn Olympics
June 11 - 5th Grade Bridging Ceremony
June 13 - Last Day of School (early dismissal) 11:30 - Parade of students out back and a visit from Mr. Ding-a-Ling
Flynn Elementary School PTO minutes
Hunt Middle School
Mr. Rich Amato, Principal at Hunt Middle School discussed the transition for 5th graders. He handed out abbreviated versions of the Hunt Parent Handbook. Hunt guidance counselors and Flynn alumni will be included in the transition for 5th graders. Current 5th grade teachers have also been sent questionnaires about the students so Hunt can learn more about them before placement. The open house date for Hunt is May 21 at Flynn Elementary School.
There are two 6th grade teams at Hunt. Each team has 3 teachers and a special educator. When students move to 7thgrade they are on the same team for 2 years. All students will have 1 to 1 electronic devices during the 2013/2014 school year.
For more information contact Hunt Middle School at 864-8469 or check out the website at http://hunt.bsdvt.org
Budget
John Boone treasurer presented. Budget updates were presented. Complete finance documents can be found on Google docs. The play committee is still wrapping up the finances. There is a separate budget for income and expenses. The fundraising did well and with the money budgeted from the PTO and the fundraising there was more money raised than spent.
The overall balance of the PTO account is almost $19,000. About $6,000 is restricted for the garden and playground.
Mary Mitchell
Flynn School is part of an online contest to be awarded a $2,000 grant for the garden. Check out the PTO blog for more information.
Fundraising
The sale of the calendars continues to go well. Income has exceeded expenses and each calendar/raffle ticket sold is 100% profit. The big raffle items will be pulled at Spring fest on May 19 at Flynn.
The next fundraising project is Dan’s Chocolate which will raise money for the playground. See the blog for more information.
Spring fest is Sunday May 19, 2013. Lots of fun activities have been planned including a silent auction, bounce castle, bake sale, and a magic show.
The staff appreciation lunch at Flynn is May 22. Parent volunteers are still needed to cover recess duty and donate food.
There was nothing in the suggestion box this month.
A PO has been submitted for the sandbox repairs.
Mr. Ding a Ling
In the past Mr. Ding a Ling has come to the last day of school to hand out free popsicles for students. This cost has been covered by the PTO. A motion was made to cover this expense again for 2013. All voted in favor of the PTO covering this cost again. Jen Debedout offered to look into the expense and organize.
Graham Clarke
$7,500 has been approved by the Burlington School District to be used for security cameras for Flynn. No PTO money will be used. They will be external cameras
Math night was a success. At least 118 people attended. Thanks to everyone that helped.
Several staff went to a science conference to learn more about STEM standards. Graham is working on a timeline for the decision to move forward with Flynn becoming a STEM school. He is also working on the best way to involve parents and the Flynn community in the decision.
Some Flynn staff will present to Burlington School District staff what STEM curriculum they have implemented and what they think the benefits of STEM would be for Flynn.
Flynn staff are exploring how to utilize Shelburne Farms as a resource to help design the landscape outside after the construction is done.
Staff are also exploring the use of UVM landscape architect students to work with the school on the grounds.
Flynn is also getting 64 solar panels and a green house with funding from the Burlington School District.
Ms. Dvorak is inviting parents to help with the Flynn Olympics on June 11.
Dana Stevens also is inviting parents to help with art in the park.
The total cost for the playground is $50,000 to $60,000. The space will be approximately 50’ by 50’. We can save money by having parents and community members help with the installation. Staff are looking atAugust 17 or August 24 as the installation date. We can save approximately $5,000 by having help.
Other business
Staff custodian Jon’s recently passed away. We discussed what is appropriate as a gift from the PTO. Claire Noble offered to find out from the Sun Shine committee a recommendation for a gift.
Officer Berti from the Burlington Police Department presented on internet safety. She is the SRO for Hunt and Edmunds Middle Schools. She presented a lively slide show which is part of her school presentations.
